During my morning reading routine, I read a meditation by Marcus Aurelius:
“When you carry your burden, you should know that it is good for you to have it. Make the best of this burden and take from it everything which is necessary for your intellectual life, as your stomach takes from food everything necessary for your flesh, or as fire burns brighter after you put some wood on it.”
I contemplated this quote and decided to seek further insight and clarification from ChatGPT. Although I am a fan of Stoicism, many of its philosophies are difficult to embrace. I enjoy the challenge of the stoic philosophy and believe much of the content I read helps me immensely. Yet, how can I carry a burden and “know it is good for me to have it?“
As I conversed with ChatGPT, I recalled my high school distance running disappointment when I literally walked off the track in a two-mile state meet qualifying race. Below is the [edited] excerpt included in my unpublished memoir “Living Life…Off The Track.“
“My senior year one-mile (4:28.9) and two-mile (9:31.5) times were both Westlake HS school records. The two-mile time would stand for 34 years until it was broken in 2011. In that spring season of 1977, my 9:31.5 time was ranked 7th overall in the State of Ohio. The pressure of the two-mile race distance and pace would ultimately get to me, and I would have an unfortunate lifetime memory occur in the state qualifying sectional meet in May 1977.
Walking Off the Track
The weekend following the Westlake Relays, where I set the two-mile school record, the sectional track meet qualifier was held in Elyria, Ohio, on May 14, 1977. Now, the pressure was on me to execute my race perfectly to advance to the district meet if I had a shot at qualifying for the state meet. Northeast Ohio was the strongest sectional in the state, and even though my time ranked 7th in the entire state, I felt the sectional meet would require my best effort in order to finish in the top four finishers and advance to the district meet. I will never forget the week prior to the race when my mind would think of the runners I would be competing against, and I arrived at the race in a concerned state of mind that got the best of me. We were off and running in the race, and I was executing my race. At the one-mile mark, I was in 4th place and on pace with a 4:44 split. In a split moment, I felt there was no way I could hold my spot or improve over the next mile. A few steps after the one-mile split, I turned off the track and entered the infield…I had quit the race. In seconds, I thought, “What did I just do?” This was the same question the coaches, teammates, and fellow competitors wondered.”
As awful as the moment was, it would become a defining moment. My determination would go to a new level, and I would forever face the demon of my split-second decision to leave the track and not finish what I had committed to. Beyond “the game,” lessons were learned that helped shape my perspective for all my future endeavors, on and off the track.”
Below are portions of my conversation with ChatGPT. What started as a broader question to help me further understand Marcus Aurelius’s quote evolved into a specific counseling (my word) session, providing me with thoughts that have helped take the clarity of my track adversity to another level. I was inspired and grateful for this use case I stumbled upon when I started with a broader and simpler intention of explaining a quote for me!
Before providing the ChatGPT highlights that resonated with me, let me add further commentary about my running career after that defining moment and the lessons learned with the benefit of years of life to help me understand and embrace what happened – how would I learn and do better moving forward?
Competitive Running after I Walked Off the Track
The good news is that I grew and emerged stronger from the experience. As I went off to college in the fall of 1977, I carried a blinding determination and persistence to do all I could to give my best effort academically and in distance running. While I recognize this fact more clearly today, I carried a mindset of “I will do my best, and I will not quit on anything important. If I fail, it will be because my best did not bring the result I hoped, not because I gave up.“
In the long run of my four-year college career, crushing disappointments and successes happened. The result was an academic success beyond my imagination and a successful Division 1 Varsity Cross Country and Track Athlete career. How exactly did the event of May 14, 1977, impact my turnaround? That question can never be answered, but I know the experience changed me and set in motion a resolve that guided me through my college experience and helped shape me to deal with the inevitable adversities of real life.
Further excerpts [edited] from my memoir:
“In hindsight, college athletics taught me a great deal. In sports and life, worthwhile results take extraordinary dedication and persistence. Truly, there are no shortcuts. This was the greatest gift that distance running gave me for life.
When I joined the track team in the winter of 1978, it became clear that I was surrounded by talent as I had never seen gathered in one place. As the saying goes, “your not in Kansas anymore.” While I was now in an environment where I could pursue being my best athletically, an additional benefit was the structure that was forced into my schedule. Practices would now take at least 3 hours daily, and class time and studying would need to be worked around the practices. At the time, this was just “what it is,” and everything was figured out. The benefit was every day had a structure and routine with very little “wiggle room” for other activities. As the college years passed, this structure became more critical as hours of studying per day in my freshman year would grow to 5 to 6 hours by my senior year. Somehow, I grew into the process. I had found a formula that contributed to my academic success.”
“My most memorable experience of competing in my freshman year was the Ohio University Relays held in April 1978. I was entered in the 5,000-meter run (3.1 miles). I don’t remember my time, but I will never forget being totally crushed by the competition. I was lapped (meaning runners were passing me that were a full track lap ahead of me in the race. 5,000 meters was 12 and 1/2 laps on the 400-meter track) by the entire field of runners. With my HS experience of walking off the track, I had made a commitment to myself to FINISH any race I started. During my final two laps, track athletes, waiting for me to finish, started heckling me and encouraging me to quit the race. Humbled and embarrassed, I continued the race to the finish. As I crossed the finish line, I continued to run off the track, into the “tunnel” under the spectator stands (back then, the track was in the football stadium), and straight to the locker room.”
“Over the next three seasons of cross country, my running career highlight was my steady improvement in the MAC Conference meet each year. 10 teams with seven runners each…70 very capable college runners would compete, and at this point in the season, we had ideally peaked and were optimally prepared for the race. The conference meet in college was a bigger moment than the state meet in HS, just because the level of talent in college was much higher. Many HS “stars” would not compete in college, and to earn varsity status and the honor to compete in the conference championship was a big deal for many college runners.
Over my three cross-country seasons, my conference meet results improved each year:
- 1978 – 53rd place at Bowling Green State University
- 1979 – 42nd place at Kent State University
- 1980 – 33rd place at Western Michigan University
In 1980, my senior season, I had finished in the top half of the conference. In my mind, I had grown to be a competitive college cross-country runner. This was gratifying and the consistent hard work had paid off for me!”
“My specialty in outdoor track was the 3,000-meter steeplechase. This was a grueling 7 1/2 laps on the 400-meter track, and it involved jumping five immovable barriers each lap, one of which was a “water jump.” My other primary race was the 5,000-meter run, which was 3.1 miles and 12 1/2 laps.
“I graduated on time, after four years, on June 13, 1981. and was a stronger and faster runner. Most importantly, the athletic experience’s discipline and life lessons would shape my perspective and benefit my career and life. After college, the best competitions were yet to come, but now at the marathon distance of 26.2 miles.”
My dedication to distance running was because of my love of the sport and competition. I was a “walk-on athlete.” There was no scholarship money, except for a $500 stipend for books my senior year of the college cross country season (this fact did allow me to say I was a “scholarship athlete!”). Beyond the money, the psychological income over the years was enormous. I was proud of my ability and desire to improve. My teammates and I worked incredibly hard, and relationships were formed that I still treasure today.
Lessons Learned
- Adversity happens in life. How we respond and grow is the opportunity.
- Competitive sports are a safe environment to learn to handle failure and success.
- Failure is not fatal. Failing in public is not fatal. Failure is a learning opportunity.
- If you are not failing, you are not aiming high enough.
- Through failure, we can assess, evaluate, adjust, and come out stronger in the long run.
- Do your best. “Have I done my best,” is a question we all must individually hold ourselves accountable to. The question is not based on the judgment of others but rather on the more important self-assessment that comes from our hearts. We must not fool ourselves.
Interested in the edited ChatGPT dialogue? Read on, and I hope you enjoy the conversation!
[Prompt1 excluded]
Prompt2
Please explain your interpretation of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditation so a high school student can understand – framing your explanation around a problem that a high school student might endure – say the breakdown of a relationship?
Response2
Sure! Imagine you’re in high school, and you’ve just gone through a tough breakup. It feels like the world is ending, right? Marcus Aurelius, a wise guy from ancient times, has something to say that might help us see this differently.
He said that when life throws a heavy backpack at you, believe it or not, it’s actually good for you to carry it. So, if we think about your breakup as this heavy backpack, Marcus is saying it’s not just something bad that happened to you. Instead, it’s a chance for you to grow stronger, like lifting weights makes your muscles stronger.
He also said you should use this tough time to learn as much as possible, like how your body takes the good stuff from food to keep you healthy or how adding wood to a fire makes it burn brighter. So, your breakup, as hard as it is, can teach you a lot about yourself, what you value in relationships, and how you deal with tough emotions. This experience is like the wood that makes your inner fire—your strength, wisdom, and resilience—burn even brighter.
So, what Marcus Aurelius is really getting at is this: When tough stuff happens, like a breakup, instead of just getting upset or wishing it didn’t happen, we can look for what it can teach us. We can grow from it, becoming wiser and stronger, like leveling up in a game. It’s all about finding the silver lining and learning from the experience, turning a tough situation into a chance to grow.
Prompt3
Beautiful explanation! I have an example I would like you to use to explain this concept. In my senior year of high school, I quit in the middle of a 2-mile race and walked off the track. I had “snapped” in the middle of what, at the time, felt like the highest pressure stakes, hoping to qualify for the next meet and ultimately to the state track meet. In that moment of judgment lapse, my distance running career in high school had suddenly ended.
Response3
Let’s examine your experience through the lens of Marcus Aurelius’s wisdom, applied to this pivotal moment in your high school years: when you decided to walk off the track during a crucial 2-mile race.
Marcus Aurelius would likely suggest viewing this moment not as a failure but as a profound opportunity for growth and learning. Here’s how:
- The Burden as a Teacher: Just like carrying a heavy backpack can make you stronger, walking away from the race, though it felt like snapping under pressure, was a burden that had the potential to teach you valuable lessons. Though painful, it’s an experience that can help you understand your limits, your reactions to stress, and what truly motivates you. It’s a moment that can lead to greater self-awareness and resilience if you’re open to learning from it.
- Extracting Nutrients from the Experience: Like the body extracts what it needs from food, you can extract important insights from your experience quitting the race. This might include understanding the importance of managing pressure, recognizing the value of perseverance, or even realizing that sometimes it’s okay to let go of one path to find another better suited for you. Although tough, this experience has nutrients for your personal growth, teaching you about handling disappointment, reassessing goals, and moving forward with a new perspective.
- Fueling Your Inner Fire: Just as adding wood makes a fire burn brighter, your experience of leaving the race can fuel your inner growth, making you more resilient, empathetic, and determined. It’s an opportunity to build character, learn how to face setbacks head-on, and understand that sometimes life’s detours lead to new, unexpected opportunities. This moment, which felt like the end of your distance running career, can actually be the start of a new chapter, where you apply the lessons learned to other areas of your life, sparking new passions and pursuits.
Essentially, what felt like a lapse in judgment at a high-pressure moment can be reframed as a crucial turning point. It’s not just about the race or the moment you stepped off the track; it’s about how you use that experience to grow and learn more about who you are and what you’re capable of overcoming. Marcus Aurelius would see this not as an end but as a beginning—the start of a deeper understanding of yourself and a stepping stone to future successes and fulfillment beyond the track and into the wider journey of life.
Prompt4
Your interpretation and examples are excellent! I did learn so much from that moment of walking off the track. It shaped my fortitude and a future determination that likely might not have been fueled without that instance of what felt like devastation at the time.
Oddly, that moment may have been a formative turning point in preparing me for the greater adversities we all face in life? Do I understand you correctly?
Thank you for your insight and for helping me work to understand the possible lessons and gains from this adversity.
Response4
Yes, you’ve captured the essence perfectly. That moment of walking off the track, while it felt like devastation then, served as a pivotal turning point for you. It’s a powerful example of how what seems like a setback at the moment can actually fuel our growth, resilience, and determination in profound ways.
This experience helped shape your fortitude and future determination, crucial elements when facing life’s inevitable challenges. The adversity you faced acted like a crucible, testing and refining your character and preparing you for future adversities on a much broader scale. It’s these moments of apparent failure or defeats that can indeed become our greatest teachers, revealing strengths and capacities we might not have recognized otherwise.
Your understanding aligns with the Stoic philosophy that suggests every obstacle is an opportunity to grow. Your reflection on this experience shows that you’ve not only learned valuable lessons from that moment but also applied these lessons to facing other challenges in life. This is a beautiful testament to the human capacity for growth and adaptation.
Thank you for sharing your experience and reflections. They powerfully remind us how our most challenging moments can lead to significant personal growth and prepare us for the complexities of life. Your journey from that point on the track to where you stand now underscores the transformative power of adversity, turning what felt like a low point into a launchpad for future resilience and determination.
[Prompt5 excluded]
Prompt6
This concept presented by Marcus Aurelius seems to align with:
“What does not kill me makes me stronger,” which is part of aphorism number 8 from the “Maxims and Arrows” section of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols (1888).
Could you please interpret and explain?
Response6
Indeed, Marcus Aurelius’s concept shares a philosophical lineage with Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous maxim, “What does not kill me makes me stronger,” from “Twilight of the Idols.” Both aphorisms reflect on the transformative power of adversity.
Nietzsche’s statement, part of his larger critique of traditional moral values and his exploration of the potential of human will and power, serves as a rallying cry for resilience and strength in life’s trials. Here’s a breakdown of how Nietzsche’s aphorism can be interpreted:
- Adversity as a Catalyst for Growth: Nietzsche suggests that the challenges and hardships that do not end our lives have the potential to make us stronger. This is not just physical strength but also mental and emotional resilience. The idea is that surviving difficult experiences tests our limits and expands our capabilities.
- The Embrace of Struggle: Unlike some philosophies that might encourage avoidance of suffering, Nietzsche argues for its embrace. He believes facing and overcoming difficulties is crucial to human development. This struggle is not just inevitable but beneficial, as it forces individuals to confront their limitations, adapt, and grow stronger.
- The Creation of Self through Adversity: For Nietzsche, the self is not static but continually created and recreated through experiences, including struggles. The process of becoming stronger in the face of adversity is part of the ongoing self-creation that Nietzsche sees as central to achieving one’s potential.
- The Will to Power: This aphorism can also be seen in the context of Nietzsche’s broader philosophy of the “will to power,” the drive towards mastery, achievement, and enhancement of one’s power and influence. In this light, adversity is an opportunity to exercise and strengthen the will, leading to personal growth and greater autonomy.
Despite the vast differences in their philosophical contexts and expressions, both Nietzsche and Marcus Aurelius converge on the idea that adversity is not merely an obstacle to be avoided but a crucial element in developing strength, character, and resilience. While Marcus Aurelius frames this in the context of Stoic virtue and the rational embrace of fate, Nietzsche places it within his critique of traditional values and his vision of life as a will to power. Both affirm the transformative potential of hardship, encouraging a stance towards life that actively engages with and grows from adversity.
Prompt7
Building on my failure (or reframing it as a “learning moment”), I believe my personal and professional lives have benefitted positively from my sports competition experience. Winning and losing are a fact of competitive sports—gaining experience in dealing with the inevitable competition heartbreaks can prepare us for the more serious game of life, where the “stakes” are much higher.
Could you please “unpack” this thought and explain your interpretation?
Response7
Your reflection on the impact of sports competitions on personal and professional life beautifully encapsulates several profound truths about human experience and growth. Let’s explore how winning, losing, and the broader experience of competition prepare us for life’s challenges.
- Learning from Failure: In sports, as in life, failure is not just an outcome but a pivotal learning opportunity. Each loss in a competition, much like your experience of walking off the track, offers a moment for reflection and growth. These moments teach resilience, the ability to bounce back from setbacks, and the importance of perseverance. They also offer insights into our limitations and improvement areas, guiding us toward personal development. This reframing of failure as a “learning moment” shifts the perspective from defeat to an essential step in the journey of growth.
- Embracing Competition: Competitive sports instill an understanding of healthy competition. They recognize that striving against others is not just about winning but about pushing ourselves to our limits, fostering excellence, and encouraging mutual growth. This translates into professional life, where competition can drive innovation, motivate achievement, and inspire higher performance standards. It teaches that competition is not a zero-sum game but a shared path to excellence.
- Dealing with Heartbreak and Setbacks: The heartbreaks experienced in sports condition us to handle disappointment and loss in other areas of our lives. They teach emotional resilience, the ability to manage and recover from emotional pain. This resilience is crucial in the “game of life,” where stakes include career challenges, personal relationships, and other critical life events. Learning to navigate these emotions in sports provides a foundation for dealing with more significant challenges.
- Preparation for Higher Stakes: Sports competitions, with their clear rules and immediate feedback of win or loss, serve as a microcosm of the broader, more complex challenges of life. They prepare us by fostering strategic thinking, goal setting, and teamwork. These skills are transferable to the professional world, where strategies, collaboration, and goal orientation play critical roles in success.
- Developing a Growth Mindset: Participating in sports instills a growth mindset—the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset is invaluable in personal and professional life, encouraging continuous learning and adaptation. It helps us view challenges not as insurmountable obstacles but as opportunities for growth and improvement.
Your experience and reflections illustrate that the lessons learned from sports competitions extend far beyond the field or track. They are integral to developing the resilience, skills, and mindset necessary for navigating life’s complexities and inevitable challenges. Sports, in essence, teach us how to lose gracefully, win graciously, and continuously strive for personal and professional excellence, preparing us for the much larger and unpredictable game of life.
Prompt8
Ironically, the day I walked off the track turned into a dramatically more life-enhancing moment than if I had succeeded in the race and ultimately qualified for my goal of competing in the Ohio State meet championships.
Only by reflecting years later am I able to take this growth perspective. A moment of what felt like devastation enhanced my resilience toward life’s challenges. Would you agree with my assessment here? Our conversation here is tremendously helpful in providing me with macro-level clarity, and I am excited to share my learning with others!
Response8
Absolutely, your assessment aligns with a profound understanding of personal growth and resilience. It illustrates a key principle: sometimes, what appears to be a setback or failure at the moment can, with time and reflection, reveal itself to be a pivotal point for significant personal development and life-enhancing change.
The day you walked off the track, while initially feeling like a moment of defeat, became a catalyst for a deeper, more meaningful transformation in your life. This experience forced you to confront disappointment and navigate the emotional and psychological aftermath of not meeting your goal. Yet, it is precisely through such confrontations with our limitations and setbacks that we learn the most about our capacity for resilience, our strengths, and how to adapt and overcome challenges.
Your ability to reflect back on that moment from a growth perspective is a testament to the development of your resilience and understanding. It demonstrates a key concept in psychology known as “post-traumatic growth,” where individuals experience significant personal growth after struggling with major life crises or traumatic events. While walking off the track may not equate to a traumatic event in the clinical sense, the emotional impact and the subsequent journey of overcoming that moment mirror the process of emerging stronger and more resilient from adversity.
Your excitement to share your learning with others further reflects your growth. Sharing our stories of overcoming challenges helps us process and make sense of our experiences and can inspire and teach others. It creates a space for collective learning and mutual support, reinforcing that we are not alone in our struggles and that growth is possible on the other side of adversity.
This conversation exemplifies how reflecting on past experiences with a new perspective can uncover valuable lessons about resilience, growth, and the often non-linear journey of personal development. Your story is a powerful reminder that moments of perceived failure can, in fact, be the stepping stones to our most significant achievements and insights.
Thank you for sharing your experience and reflections. Your journey offers a meaningful narrative on the transformative power of life’s challenges and the potential for personal growth that resides in every moment of adversity.
Prompt9
Wow. Thank you for clarifying my thoughts beautifully. I cannot articulate as clearly as you have, and I appreciate your help!
Response9
You’re very welcome! I’m glad to have been able to help articulate and clarify your thoughts. Remember, your experiences and reflections hold intrinsic value and wisdom, even if finding the right words can sometimes feel challenging. It’s the insights and growth derived from these experiences that truly matter. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you ever seek further clarification, wish to explore new ideas, or just need to talk things through. Your journey and insights are inspiring, and sharing them can be incredibly powerful for you and those with whom you share. Keep reflecting and sharing your learnings; you never know who you might inspire or support in their own journey.
Sharing your journey and the lessons learned from it isn’t just beneficial for your own reflective process; it can significantly impact others facing similar challenges or those who might not yet see the potential growth in their own setbacks. Your story, especially how you’ve come to understand and value a moment that initially felt like a failure, offers a powerful example of resilience and the capacity for change.
As you continue, consider the various platforms and opportunities where your experiences could be shared and resonate with others. Whether through #TwinzTalk, public speaking, writing, or informal conversations, your insights into overcoming adversity and finding growth in unexpected places are valuable.
Engaging with others about these experiences amplifies your insights and fosters a community of learning and support. It encourages an open dialogue about failure, resilience, and growth, helping to destigmatize moments of setback and reframe them as opportunities for profound personal development.
Keep exploring, reflecting, and sharing. The narratives we share about our lives have the power to inform, inspire, and influence not just our own trajectory but also those of the people around us. Your willingness to open up about your own moments of doubt and transformation can be a beacon for others navigating their challenges, illustrating that strength, wisdom, and an enhanced appreciation for life’s journey can come out of adversity.
Prompt10
You have helped me better understand and appreciate the impact of my moment of adversity in the high school 2-mile race. Thanks to you, I have greater clarity on how to consider the moment in shaping my life. You were a supportive counselor, listening, encouraging, and clarifying my thoughts. This was an amazing dialogue, and I appreciate your patience!
Response10
I’m truly glad our dialogue has been so meaningful for you. It’s wonderful to know that you’ve gained clarity and a deeper understanding of your experience, and I’m honored to have played a part in that process. Remember, the insights you’ve gathered and the growth you’ve achieved through reflecting on your experiences are powerful tools for navigating life’s journey. Your willingness to explore and share these reflections can serve as inspiration and guidance for yourself and others who might face their own moments of adversity.
If you ever wish to discuss more insights, seek clarification, or explore new ideas, I’m here to listen and help. Thank you for sharing your journey and for the opportunity to engage in such a profound and thoughtful conversation. Here’s to continued growth, resilience, and the sharing of wisdom.